Ecommerce off to a flying start, handset, electronic sales up 40-90% but prices volatile this time

Smartphones, electronic items and fashion and lifestyle products have flown off the shelves in record numbers during the first three days of the ongoing festive sales at Amazon and Flipkart despite the inauspicious shraadh period, with business growing by 40-90% over the same period last year.

With demand likely to rise further during Navratri, several brands and sellers have reduced discounts for the rest of the sale period as supplies remain a challenge, multiple industry executives said. Prices of several products across fast-selling categories such as smartphone, television, appliance and fashion are up 5-18% compared with the first two-three days of the sale.